The invention relates generally to implements for dental hygiene and more specifically to dental flossing implements.
Dental flossing is a well known technique for promoting dental hygiene and for preventing tooth decay and gum disease. Commonly, dental floss is held in two hands between the thumbs and forefingers and moved in a reciprocating motion over opposing surfaces between a pair of teeth. Often, effective cleaning by the floss of the opposing surfaces between the teeth is made difficult because of the difficulty in placing the floss between the teeth For example, it may be difficult with the dental floss in both hands to reach into the back of the mouth to place the strand of dental floss between a pair of molars. Also, it is difficult to insert the floss between teeth that are tightly spaced, i.e. have very little space therebetween. Because of the difficulty in placing the floss between the teeth, it may also be difficult to properly move the floss to effectively clean between the teeth.
In the prior art, it is known to support a strand of floss on a flossing implement to aid in locating the floss between teeth in the back of the mouth. It is also known in the prior art to provide means associated with the implement for imparting a reciprocating motion to the floss itself, or for imparting a reciprocating motion to a portion of the flossing implement. Reciprocating motion, in the prior art, consisted of moving the length of floss in the direction of its longitudinal extension in a back and forth manner. Such prior art flossing implements have relatively complex designs and can present difficulty because of the bulk of the implement itself.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a flossing implement which aids in the cleaning of surfaces between the teeth.
It is another object of this invention to provide a flossing implement which aids in the placement of a strand of floss between a pair of teeth.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a flossing implement having a simple design for holding a strand of dental floss and for vibrating the strand of dental floss.